CHAMPAIGN — A former Wisconsin-Green Bay women’s basketball player and her mother reached out to the News-Gazette on Wednesday with claims that her experience playing for now Illinois head coach Matt Bollant and former associate head coach Mike Divilbiss did not match the allegations that surfaced Monday against both coaches and led to Divilbiss’ departure from the program.
“My experience with Coach D and Coach Bollant was way different than what I was seeing in the articles,” Breannah Ranger said early Wednesday evening. Ranger played for Bollant and Divilbiss for three seasons before they left for Illinois. “I had a close relationship with both of them, especially Coach D.